Expert: Charles W. Field - 6/3/2005

Question
My mother's brother died and even though my mother is in his will, etc. his girlfriend of 8 months somehow became the beneficiary on his annuity.   Even though you are an attorney in Georgia and this will take place in New York, perhaps you can give a general opinion on the following idea:

From my limited understanding in this matter, it appears that once the initial "attack" is made (freezing the assets, deposing the people, etc) then one of three things can occur:
1) The other party will give in and give my mother all the money in question.
2) There will be a settlement of some kind.
3) There will be a "war" where both parties fight it out in court.

Since there may be a good chance for #2 or #3 in this case (especially since the security licenses of Arthur's girlfriend's son-in-law & his employee could be at stake), what do you think about the idea of first pursuing the "attack" and seeing what happens.   If the other party wants to fight the "war" (or if we decide to because the settlement is not acceptable), then at that point I can look for an attorney that will work on contingency.



Even though the time it will take to fight the "war" in court is beyond prediction, I would imagine that the initial "attack" is somewhat predictable.   Could you give me a rough estimate as to how much time the "attack" will take (perhaps the least amount of hours and the most amount of hours)?   With this concept I may be also be able to afford big name lawyer for the attack which should add to frightening the other party.

Thanks
David  

Answer
I am assuming what you want to attack is the annuity. However, the benefits from an annuity are like the benefits from a life insurance policy in that they are both outside the will. The annuity is a contract and unless you can prove that your uncle was defrauded or under undue influence, the annuity will be upheld. You should at least consult with a local attorney to discuss the surrounding facts in more detail than is possible in this type of forum and also to see if there is some detail of NY law of which I am unaware that may impact this situation.